sparten

Sections

Clogging

Does this feel familiar? You hear a nice song playing and it sets your feet tapping. You feel like you would love to dance right there and then? But you don't have a dance partner or the opportunity to dance? Maybe clogging could be right for you.

Clogging is a type of percussive dance, also known as Power Tap, since we might start to sweat quite quickly once we start dancing. The step combinations are cued. We dance without a partner to a variety of music styles, including the latest chart hits, there is something for everyone.

The taps used for clogging are typically jingle taps – attached to the toe and heel of the shoe. These taps create a distinctive sound that is different from, for example, classic tap dancing.

Everyone dances the same routine (the steps are usually cued). Most routines are danced in lines, but there are also (rarely) some choreos, which are danced as duos or duets or in formations. When you start to learn and practice the steps, you can already experience the fun of music and rhythm in a group.

A wise person once said: if you can move your feet in time to the music, you can learn how to clog.
The Beaux & Belles clogging group is called Crazy Taps. Moving to music, and at the same time a demanding workout – is this something you fancy?

Then just give it a try. We’d love to hear from you, send an e-mail to: instructor@beauxbelles.de to make an appointment for an open house session.

The Crazy Taps clog (almost) always on Sundays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Round Dance

Round dance is a form of dance similar to ballroom dance, in which dancers dance in pairs according to the announcement of choreographies from rhythms such as 2-step, waltz, cha-cha, rumba, jive and many more.

This type of dance "formation" prevents the "congestion" that is often experienced in ballroom dancing on the dance floor. The dancers are therefore better able to concentrate on executing the figures and dancing as a unit, rather than having to think about which figure to dance next. The dancers move around the floor on a "track" in a circle. Hence "Round Dance."  Round Dance features all the rhythms taught in ballroom dancing, such as. Cha Cha Cha, Rumba, Jive, Tango, Slow Waltz and Slow Fox, as well as Country Twostep Mambo, Bolero, Discofox etc. Hits like "Mambo No.5" by Lou Bega and "Sexbomb" by Tom Jones & Mousse T. or "Satellite" by Lena Meyer-Landruth as well as well-known country hits "If I said you had a beautiful body..." by the Bellamy Brothers or evergreens and well-known melodies from famous musicals. The palette goes from pop to oldies, from soul to classical.  A specific part of the Round Dance is the cuer, the announcer.

Since there are far more choreographies than a dancer could learn by heart, a cuer announces the figure names of the choreography just before they must be performed. Round dancers learn to assign a figure name to each step sequence from day one. This makes it easier to build up the learned step sequences to ever new choreographies, since each dancer has already learned a certain figure repertoire. In courses (workshops) you can constantly expand your repertoire of figures or choreographies.

Round Dance is offered on Fridays alternating with Square Dance and on Sunday evenings.

Square Dance

Square dancing is danced in Groups of four couples with various figures together to lively Western music or pop sounds. Dancing is done according to the announcements of a caller, nobody has to learn complete step sequences by heart. The uncomplicated music makes it possible for even non-dancers to join in without any problems.

Where does SQUARE DANCE come from?

Square dancing evolved from a variety of European dances - especially the French quadrille and the English morris and contra dances. During the settlement of North America, settlers spread their own dances and adopted figures from others - creating a unique blend. Around 1930, the now almost forgotten square dances were rediscovered. Later, a group of callers set out to compile and standardize the existing figures. This is the basis of today's Modern American Square Dance. Square dancing came to Germany with the American soldiers at the end of World War II.

Modern American SQUARE DANCE today
Since the same figures are used all over the world, anyone who has learned square dancing anywhere can also dance anywhere. Whether with a partner or without, soon you are part of a circle in which everyone is friendly to everyone else. We do not know hierarchies, titles stay at home. There is no competition, only fun in being together with music and dance. Square dancers visit each other at the club evenings of other clubs and organize regional, national and international dance events. At the annual jamborees of the European square dance umbrella organizations, between 1,000 and 2,000 dancers meet for a weekend. After successful completion (graduation), the world of square dancing is wide open to every square dancer.